The Commission also works in close relationship with the Court Of Justice. The activities of the European Commission involve the input of this institution on a consistent basis The Commission is responsible for submitting disputes to the Court Of Justice. These disputes may involve problems with governments or firms not adhering to the respective rules or regulations of the European Union.
The European Parliament (EP) represents in the words of the 1957 Treaty of Rome, 'the peoples of the States brought together in the European Community'. The EP elected every five years is the only European Institution that congregates and carries out discussions in public. There are 375 million citizens in 15 different countries now involved in the process of European integration through their 626 representatives in the European Parliament.
The EP like most other parliaments has 3 fundamental powers:
- the power to legislate
- the power of the purse
- the power to supervise the executive
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) spend around three weeks each month in Brussels attending committee and political group meetings and the other week attending plenary sessions (meeting with all members present). Plenary sessions include agenda setting, voting, question time with or without debate, speeches by commissioners or the council presidency, discussions of emergency issues and debates on general topics.
The European Parliament works closely together with other institutions within the European Union. The Parliament is responsible for selecting and appointing the European Commission. Once the Parliament has approved agreeing with the nomination for the Commission President then the Parliament carries out meetings with the nominees for the Commission and then selects the Commission by a vote of confidence.
The European Parliament as mentioned has “the power to supervise.” The EP uses this when working with the Commission. The EP carefully analyses a vast amount of monthly or annual reports that the Commission is required to present to the EP. An example may include a report on the implementation of the budget.
Another example of how the European Parliament and the Commission work together is during plenary sessions of carried out by the Parliament. “Question Time” involves a session where members of the Parliament can submit a series of questions on a variety of relevant topics to the Commission representatives. These representatives must justify their answers in detail for the approval of the Parliament. It has been counted that an approximate 5000 questions are submitted to the Commission for answering each year.
The European parliament also works very closely with the Council of the European Union. The aforementioned powers of the Parliament have resulted in it having a much more influential effect on the CEU. This relationship will be discussed later in the essay.
The European Council and the Council of Ministers is officially called the Council of the European Union (CEU) and generally known as the Council. This institution is a Community institution exercising the powers conferred upon it by the Treaties.
“Apart from a few specific decision making functions, the primary purpose is to provide strategic direction by considering the EU’s and the member states’ policies and priorities as an organic whole rather than as separate and competing ingredients.”
The CEU plays a number of key roles within the European Union. Firstly, the CEU works in conjunction with the European Parliament as the legislative bodies with the EU. This is officially known as the “co-decision procedure.” Both institutions work in close partnership to cover a wide range of legislative issues within the European Union. These issues include internal market, consumer protection, trans-European networks, education, and health. However, the right of initiative lies within the Commission. The Commission forwards a proposal to the Council who then analyse and inspect and if need so alter it before acceptance. The procedure is very bureaucratic with nearly no democracy at all. (For a visual diagram see Appendix 1)
The CEU works again with the Parliament to examine and approve the budget of the European Community.
However, it is in fact strange how the CEU and the EP work so well together as their relationship with each other has been recognised as being awkward. The EP tends to see the Council as “a jealous guardian of intergovernmentalism and the Council tends to see the EP as greedy in its demands for greater power and ineffectual in its exercise of existing power.”
Additionally, the Council also has been recognised as having a certain degree of political tension with the Commission. This is unique in the sense that harmonious relationships between institutions are fundamentally vital for efficient and effective decision-making.
European Court of Justice (ECJ)
The Court of Justice “ensures that Community law is uniformly interpreted and effectively applied. It has jurisdiction in disputes involving Member States, EU institutions, businesses and individuals.”
Since the beginning of its presence the ECJ was the EU’s least recognised institution. Being located in Luxembourg did not help as this meant the ECJ was away from the centre of happenings in Brussels and Strasbourg. However, the ECJ only became slowly recognised when the public began to understand the importance of the ECJ’s rulings and how significantly they affected them.
During the political, economic and institutional weakening of the European Community (EC) in the 1960s and 1970s the ECJ persisted and struggled on to create an extensive and powerful mass of case law that continued the process for deeper integration. The outcome of this was extremely positive. The work of the ECJ developed not just a new legal order but also assisted in the EC’s resurgence during the 1980s.
The ECJ’s main goal is “to ensure that in the interpretation and application of [the treaties] the law is observed.”
The ECJ works effectively together with many of the EU’s institutions. It has unique relationships with the European Council, European Commission and the European Parliament all of whom play significant roles in ECJ cases. The ECJ and the EP both possess a conventional integrationist and supranationalist view. The ECJ has regularly supported the EP’s institutional interests. An example of this was in the Isoglucose case where the ECJ favoured the view of the EP and gave the EP authority over the Council in delaying power for legislation.
As previously mentioned the ECJ also works with the European Commission . Even though the ECJ has sometimes overruled the Commission, the ECJ views the Commission as an evident associate and co-worker. Basically, the Commission as “guardian of the treaties” is responsible for the submission of a large amount of court cases.
In addition, the Court and the Commission “work closely together to promote economic integration, particularly through the use of infringement proceedings and competition policy instruments.”
Conclusion
The European Commission, European Parliament, Council of the European Union and the European Court of Justice are the four main institutions in the European Union and are joined by a further six institutions which make the system complete.
The European Commission basically attends to the interests of the European Union as a whole. It works well with the Council and Parliament in drafting legislations and regularly attends Council and Parliament meetings.
The European Parliament elected every five years is the only European Institution that congregates and carries out discussions in public. The Parliament is responsible for selecting and appointing the European Commission.
The EP works in conjunction with the Council of the European Union (a community institution exercising the powers conferred upon it by the Treaties) as the legislative bodies with the EU.
Both institutions work in close partnership to cover a wide range of legislative issues within the European Union.
Finally, the ECJ ensures that Community law is uniformly interpreted and effectively applied and works closely and effectively with the Council, European Commission and the European Parliament all of whom play significant roles in ECJ cases.
Appendix 1
How the main institutions in the EU work together to create legislation?
Submits proposal
- Consultation procedure between EP and CEU
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CEU DECIDES (1957) Parliament gives opinion (not binding)
- CO-DECISION procedure
- Both EP and CEU have to agree (1993)
MEMBER STATES
Bibliography
BOOKS & JOURNALS
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Dinan, Desmond, “Ever Closer Union: An Introduction to European Integration,” Lyne Rienner Publishers Inc. 1994, pp.205-315
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Martin, Geoffrey, The European Commission: Why We Need It, Britain In Europe, 1998, pp. 62-69
WEBSITES
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Website of the European Commission
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Website of the European Parliament
http://www.europarl.eu.int/home/default_en.htm
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Website of the Council of the European Union
http://ue.eu.int/en/summ.htmxs
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Website of the Court of Justice and Court of First Instance
http://curia.eu.int/en/index.htm
http://www.europa.eu.int/inst-en.htm
http://www.europa.eu.int/inst-en.htm
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/role_en.htm
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/role_en.htm
Geoffrey Martin, Head of the European Commission, representation of the UK
http://www.europarl.eu.int/presentation/default_en.htm
http://www.europarl.eu.int/presentation/default_en.htm
http://www.europarl.eu.int/presentation/default_en.htm
Desmond Dinan, “Ever Closer Union: An Introduction to Integration” Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc. 1994, p.301
http://ue.eu.int/en/Info/index.htm
Desmond Dinan, “Ever Closer Union: An Introduction to Integration” Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc. 1994, p.301
http://www.europa.eu.int/inst-en.htm
Desmond Dinan, “Ever Closer Union: An Introduction to Integration” Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc. 1994, p.301
Desmond Dinan, “Ever Closer Union: An Introduction to Integration” Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc. 1994, p.310